


Encore

by Stregatrek



Series: Femslash February 2020 [7]
Category: Repo! The Genetic Opera (2008)
Genre: Canon Compliant, F/F, Femslash, Femslash February, Five Years Later, Post-Canon, canon-typical mentions of drug use, mentions of Rotti Nathan Mag Marni and Graverobber but no actual appearances, more or less
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-08
Updated: 2020-02-08
Packaged: 2021-02-27 20:21:54
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,203
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22611697
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Stregatrek/pseuds/Stregatrek
Summary: Five years after the events of the Genetic Opera, Amber and Shilo reunite.
Relationships: Amber Sweet/Shilo Wallace
Series: Femslash February 2020 [7]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1619296
Comments: 3
Kudos: 11





	Encore

“At first, I thought it was the zydrate I wanted. The expression on your face, the first time we met, after Graverobber shot it into your leg… I couldn’t stop seeing it. But I was having withdrawals, from my medication, you know.” Shilo fiddled with the gray straw in her black-ish drink. Amber nodded, understanding. Her black bob swung forward, hiding her shimmering rose-pink lips. Shilo couldn’t get over how beautiful she still was. “So I didn’t want to try it. I didn’t want another thing- I don’t know, I wanted it, but- well. Anyway, I kept thinking about you. And I heard you took over Geneco. After- after I wouldn’t sign. Things have changed- I think you’re doing good things. Aren’t you?”  


“I try to,” Amber laughed, drinking from her pink glass. “Not everyone would say I succeed.”  


Shilo didn’t know what to say to that. Amber had obviously changed, in the last five years. She must have had to, to run Geneco. And with everything that had happened to her family… Shilo replied after a moment, “I’m sorry about your brother.”  


Amber sighed. Then she smiled, flippant. The same smile Shilo remembered. “Ah well. I knew it would happen someday- one would say a little too much, and the other would… Idiots. Both of them. I miss Pavi, sometimes, but it’s easier running Geneco without him around. Even more true for Luigi, the asshole. I visit him once and a while, but jail keeps him out of my way.”  


“I couldn’t believe it when I saw the papers.”  


“Oh well.” Amber finished her drink and slammed the glass back on the bar. “Dance with me.” Amber grabbed Shilo’s hand, pulling her out of her seat at the bar.  


“I don’t really know how,”  


“Don’t worry about it. No one will be looking at you.” Amber held her elbow and took her to the middle of the floor. People were all around, some in gas masks, some all in leather. Amber in her lace and collared shirt looked too nice to be there. Shilo felt like she was going to get Amber dirty by touching her. And then Amber started to dance, and Shilo remembered her the way she’d met her, out of her mind on Z in a back alley. Maybe not all that much had changed in five years.

Amber held her gaze, and they danced together- sort of, as Shilo was too nervous to reach out and grab Amber’s hips and Amber seemed to either not be on the same page or be waiting for Shilo to make the first move. She felt herself being pulled in, taking a step back- there was just something _about _Amber Sweet, but that didn’t make it easy to trust her.  
__

__Then the band began to break down, new musicians taking their place on the small corner stage.  
_ _

__“I want to see you again.” Amber said, and Shilo flushed.  
_ _

__“O-okay. Yes. I would- I would like that,” She smiled. Amber smiled back. Shilo felt a fluttering in her chest. “When?”  
_ _

__“I have some meetings tomorrow, but I should be done by evening. Come by the headquarters. I’m sure we can find something interesting to do.”  
_ _

__“Tomorrow.” Shilo repeated with a smile.  
_ _

__She went home, unlocking the gate that had been closed to her for so long. She had moved her bed out of her old room, locked her father’s room, and put up photographs and holograms of people besides her mother. Her father and Mag shared dominance of the walls now, but there were news clippings there too. And pictures of Amber. Nothing she had thought much about when she hung them- just things it had felt important to keep. ‘Geneco Heiress Promises Redesign,’ ‘Amber Sweet Switches Stage for CEO’s Desk,’ ‘Geneco Will Not Fight Repeal of Repossessions Act, Sweet Says.’ She’d read some before she’d gone home, the few days she’d spent following Graverobber around the city, trying to make sense of what had happened to her. Others she’d picked up after she’d started working. There was a picture of Graverobber up too, and a few of friends from work or the support group. She liked looking at their faces in her house. It was a reminder of the fact things had changed for the better, in some ways.  
_ _

__*  
_ _

__“Shilo Wallace.” Amber put her pen down, adjusting the straps of her dress while making deliberate eye contact. “You’re late.”  
_ _

__Shilo gave her a scathing look. “’Evening’ isn’t a real time.”  
_ _

__Amber didn’t bother acknowledging that, standing up to walk around the desk, her heels clacking on the floor. “This all was almost yours, wasn’t it.”  
_ _

__Shilo looked around the old headquarters. She didn’t like being back here; it was bad enough to see the tall building ever on the horizon, but to actually be inside again… she was acutely aware that just a few floors away was the room where she’d hit her father with a shovel. The stage where he’d died was close. “I guess it was.”  
_ _

__“A lot of people want what I have,” Amber said, leaning on the desk that belonged to _her _father before her. Shilo met her eyes. “But not you.”  
___ _

___“Not me,” Shilo agreed. “Not that, you know, I don’t have ideas. But this…” She gestured around them. “I’m glad I didn’t-” the memory of a cold gun in her hands rose up, choking her.  
_ _ _

___Amber looked at her coolly, assessing. “I’m glad you didn’t too.” She picked her pen back up. “And I’d like to hear your ideas,”  
_ _ _

___Shilo smiled. “Okay,” she drew up a chair. “Well…”  
_ _ _

___Before she could start a thought, Amber said, “You turned out pretty hot, Shilo Wallace.”  
_ _ _

___“You turned out pretty bossy,” Shilo shot back, blushing.  
_ _ _

___“No,” Amber smirked. “I’m the boss. Tell me about those ideas.”  
_ _ _

___Shilo had some ideas, alright.  
_ _ _

___*  
_ _ _

___Amber had invited her to the bar where they’d met that first time, and Shilo had a wonderful time dancing again. This time she noticed that people were staring. She wondered if it was all Amber, or if anyone remembered her. She wasn’t sure that she wanted to know, and tried to ignore it. Amber held her hand almost all night, and danced so close that Shilo was sure they’d tumble together, locked at the lips and hips, before the end of the night. Amber’s hands were tangled in her hair, and they were both drunk, Shilo buzzing with the desire to move closer, to touch more.  
_ _ _

___“I’m probably too drunk,” she said to Amber.  
_ _ _

___“Me too!” Amber answered, too loud in her ear. “So just fucking dance with me!”  
_ _ _

___Shilo smiled. She could do that.  
_ _ _

___*  
_ _ _

___“Come in,” Shilo said nervously. She hadn’t had hardly anyone in her house. It had been years, true, but who would she invite? Graverobber had stayed a few weeks, once, and people she had met and tried to befriend had been in the sitting room. But the friends she had now met her in public, or invited her to their homes. Having Amber walk into her house was uncomfortable. But it also felt good.  
_ _ _

___“It’s lovely here.” Amber said, throwing her coat over the stair railing. “Do you have anything to drink?”  
_ _ _

___“Sure,” Shilo said, relieved that it was this easy. “Come on, there’s some tea in the kitchen.”  
_ _ _

___She showed Amber around the house, avoiding comment on the holographic portraits of her mother and father. Rather, she spent time showing Amber the people she had _chosen _, her friends now and the pictures of Mag. “She was my godmother,” Shilo said, looking at a clipping of Mag’s debut. “But I never knew it until the day she died.”  
___ _ _

___“Oh,” Amber answered, looking at the picture. Shilo couldn’t read her expression. She knew the two hadn’t gotten along, and she appreciated Amber holding back her scathing tongue.  
_ _ _

___And then she showed Amber her room.  
_ _ _

___Almost immediately, Amber sat down on her bed, reclining against the headboard. “Come here,” she ordered.  
_ _ _

___Shilo went, feeling the safety in her arms.  
_ _ _

___“Can I tell you something?” Amber whispered into her hair, sounding uncharacteristically nervous.  
_ _ _

___Shilo curled closer to her. “Of course.”  
_ _ _

___“My real name is Carmela. It was my mother’s middle name. My father killed her. And I changed it. I told him it was so I could have a stage name.”  
_ _ _

___Shilo thought about that. “Which one do you like better?”  
_ _ _

___Amber pulled away to look down at her in surprise. “No one has ever asked me.”  
_ _ _

___“Should I keep calling you Amber?”  
_ _ _

___A quiet moment passed, Amber sitting against her headboard, looking for all the world like she was comfortable there. Shilo couldn’t quite wrap her head around Amber Sweet sitting in her bed. “Amber.”  
_ _ _

___“Amber it is,” Shilo said, leaning close to her again. “Let me know if that changes.”  
_ _ _

___Amber stroked her short hair. “You’re strange, Shilo Wallace.”  
_ _ _

___“Or maybe the world is,” Shilo sighed.  
_ _ _

___“Oh, the world definitely is.” Amber agreed. “I want to sleep here tonight.”  
_ _ _

___Shilo looked at her. Going from no one in her house to Amber Sweet spending the night in her bed was a sharp transition. She couldn’t think of one she’d like more. “Okay. I probably have some pajamas around somewhere that you can borrow. I’m sorry, I don’t keep track of my things very well anymore.”  
_ _ _

___“I don’t care. I’ve slept in a lot worse than the nude.”  
_ _ _

___Shilo laughed. “I believe it.” She got up and crossed the room, opening drawers she honestly thought hadn’t been opened in years. The first one had old photos she’d pulled down. She shut it quickly. The next was clothes; mostly socks and gloves. Moving across the room, she felt Amber’s eyes on her. Another bureau held preserved insects and empty jars. Finally, in the bottom drawer she found some old soft nightdresses. She looked for one that might fit Amber, sorting through them. Her fingers got lost in the fabric as she became more and more aware of Amber’s eyes on her. It was pleasant, anticipatory.  
_ _ _

___“Hey,” Amber said. “Come here.”  
_ _ _

___“What for?” Shilo asked as she came back to stand beside the bed.  
_ _ _

___Amber reached up and took Shilo’s face in her hands. “I want to kiss you.”  
_ _ _

___Shilo’s breath caught. “I want to kiss you too.”  
_ _ _

___“Perfect,” Amber pulled her down, and Shilo rested her knee on the bed. Their lips met, and Shilo forgot everything else. Amber’s mouth felt incredible, soft, easy. She smelled like jasmine lotion and champagne, and her hair was like silk where it brushed Shilo’s face. Without thinking, Shilo tilted her face to deepen the kiss, one hand clutching Amber’s shoulder and the other cradling her jaw. Amber’s chest heaved as she took a breath. “Oh- forget the pajamas.”  
_ _ _

___Shilo was already kissing down her jaw, crawling into her lap. “Uh-huh,” she agreed. Amber’s hands were around her waist, and hers were in Amber’s hair. She felt perfect.  
_ _ _

___*  
_ _ _

___Six months since the first time Amber had spent the night, Shilo was getting used to waking up to the CEO of Geneco in her bed. Every morning was an unreal feeling, too good for what either of their pasts had been. Until Amber spoke- she’d softened over the years, but she was still something of a monster before coffee. Shilo had learned to laugh.  
_ _ _

___“Good morning,” She said.  
_ _ _

___“Ugh,” Amber groaned, rolling toward her to bury her face in Shilo’s shoulder. She reached across Shilo’s body to hold her close, snuggling down in the bed. “Kill me.”  
_ _ _

___Shilo chuckled. “If you let me go, I’ll go start coffee.”  
_ _ _

___“Stay here.”  
_ _ _

___“You can have coffee, or I can hold you.”  
_ _ _

___Amber took a long moment to answer that. “Make coffee and come back to bed.”  
_ _ _

___Shilo kissed her head as she eased out from Amber’s grip. “I always do.”  
_ _ _

___She made coffee, and carried the two mugs carefully up. Amber propped herself resentfully against the headboard and held her mug close to her face, breathing the smell as much as actually drinking the coffee. Shilo watched her affectionately- if somewhat exasperatedly- as she got dressed. “What are you doing today?” Shilo asked once Amber had drunk her coffee in silence.  
_ _ _

___“Working, nothing. Seeing you tonight,”  
_ _ _

___“There’s a show tonight, I told you,” Shilo said, shrugging into her coat.  
_ _ _

___“I don’t want you to go.”  
_ _ _

___“Well, I’m going to,” Shilo said. “I’ve been locked inside enough.”  
_ _ _

___Amber’s pout melted in an instant. “That’s not- I meant that I wanted you to stay in. With me.”  
_ _ _

___“Oh.” Shilo relaxed. “Well, then, you should say that.”  
_ _ _

___“Don’t tell me what to say.”  
_ _ _

___“Don’t tell me what to do.”  
_ _ _

___Amber glared at her for a moment, then began to laugh. She opened her arms. “Come over here. Please.”  
_ _ _

___Shilo smiled at the please, and went, curling against the headboard beside Amber, her head on the older woman’s shoulder. “Thank you for saying please,”  
_ _ _

___“I hate saying please.” Amber said. “But I think I’m in love with you. So it balances out.”  
_ _ _

___“You love me?” Shilo raised her head.  
_ _ _

___Amber arched her eyebrows. “Surprise.”  
_ _ _

___Shilo smiled. “I love you too.” She laid her head back on Amber’s shoulder and felt Amber’s arms tighten around her. “Surprise.”  
_ _ _


End file.
